Learning to Trust Year 5 Part 2
by Robbins2
Summary: Severus is teaching Harry Occlumency and when he finds the pensieve, Harry'a curiosity gets the better of him. Severus is not impressed. Contains spanking, so if this is not for you, don't read.


**DISCLAIMER - These characters and the original idea all belong to JK Rowling. It is a great privilege to be able to borrow them for fun.**

 **Some of the incidents here, such as the reference to Charity Burbage are taken from other books of the series. Charity Burbage, for example did not die in OP but in DH. I** **'** **ve adapted to suit my story here.**

 **Learning to Trust Year 5 Part 2**

Harry was pleased to discover that Professor Snape had been true to his word. The young wizard had no idea what his guardian had said to Senior Undersecretary Umbridge to put an end to the dreaded detentions but Harry received a note from the odious woman at dinner in the Great Hall informing him that they were over.

It was delivered the day after his release from the hospital wing, hours after the Professor had discovered the methods she was deploying to punish him.

So far, there were no signs that the Potions Master had been given the boot either, something that brought a great measure of relief to Harry.

The next day, Harry was returning to lessons and he felt a little nervous about this. He disliked the curious glances he was getting from the other students when they met him. News of what had happened two night's ago had gotten around the school grapevine and there were as many versions as listeners. Harry had overheard whispered accounts that he was victim of a cursed hippogriff feather left under his pillow and Ron had told him there was growing belief that he had gone around the bend, driven insane by his tragic past.

Severus had told him it would soon be forgotten, to ignore the rumours, the fascination, concentrate on lessons and in a day or so, it would be old news.

It was good advice but difficult to follow with Slytherins hissing the words 'Poor Potty' under their breath whenever they passed him on the corridor.

Before the end of his first day, he had been summoned to Professor Dumbledore's office, an unexpected invite that saw Harry rising to the Headmaster's turret on the magical winding stairs that moved upwards all by itself. His last lesson of the day had just ended.

To his surprise, his guardian was already there, standing by Dumbledore's desk, an uneasy expression on his face.

The Headmaster looked serious, thoughtful. Harry looked from one to the other, trying to guess if they had heard something about Mr. Weasley who was recovering in hospital after the vicious attack Harry had witnessed in his sleep the other night.

"Is there something wrong? What's happened?" Harry asked.

It was Dumbledore who answered.

"Nothing my dear boy. I have been talking with Severus and we feel that we must take some extra precautions in the light of the events of the other night. I am sure your guardian will explain further, Harry but I do not think it is safe to keep the access to the mind of Voldemort open," Dumbledore said.

"But if it wasn't for it, Mr. Weasley would be dead!" Harry protested.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"We do not understand enough about it, Harry. The risks are too great. Should Voldemort have a sense of it, the consequences are too terrible to contemplate," Dumbledore replied gravely.

Harry looked at Severus.

"The Head Master is correct, Harry." his face told the boy he would brook no argument.

"So what do you want me to do? I don't know how to just switch it off," Harry said.

"There is a way. It is called Occlumency," Severus said.

Harry had never heard of it.

"Severus will be giving you extra lessons, Harry. It is imperative that you give this your fullest attention," Dumbledore urged.

Harry sensed that it was a done deal and so, he nodded.

"When does this start?" Harry asked, suddenly thinking of Quiddich practice.

"Now," Severus said.

"You will accompany me to my classroom and we will work there. I should add, Harry that no-one should know about this," the Professor continued.

And so, Harry followed his guardian to the dungeons. There, Severus drew his wand and instructed Harry to do likewise.

"Occlumency is magic that protects your innermost thoughts, Harry. It enables you to shield your mind from scrutiny. But it is not easily learned. You must work at it," Severus said.

He rose his wand.

"I will attempt to penetrate your mind, you try to drive me out," he said, pointing the wand.

"Legilimens!"

Harry heard the spell, felt as though the thoughts in his mind were being played like film footage.

He fell back, startled. Severus lowered his wand.

"You were never going to get it the first time. I wanted you to feel me, Harry, to be aware that I was tampering with your mind. But the Dark Lord will not afford you that. He will look, he will see and you will not even know it if you do not master this magic," Snape said.

Again, he pointed his wand at Harry, uttered the spell and Harry felt the push of another's presence in his mind.

Memories flashed, a kaleidoscope that he could not control. Fred and George passing out puking pastilles in the Gryffindor common room, Sirius disappearing into the night on Buckbeak's back, Professor Lockhart cowering as Cornish pixies teemed mischievously around him.

Again Snape pulled away.

"Harry, you must try harder. Come on now, Push back," he said.

When the spell was cast, Harry once again felt the swirl of memories, he was walking along a corridor in the ministry with Mr. Weasley, fear prickling at the thought of the hearing before the Wizangamot, he was talking with Sir Nicholas at the Death Day party, Ron was beating him at wizard chess, he was kissing Cho Chang underneath a sprig of mistletoe and Harry felt a resistance swell within himself.

And then he was once again free.

"Better. You didn't drive me out but it was a fair try," Severus put his wand away.

"That's enough for tonight. We try again tomorrow. Meet me here after supper," the Professor said.

"What if we miss a way of finding him?" Harry asked.

Severus gave him a very serious look.

"That is not your job, Harry. The danger to yourself is far more than you seem to realise. You need to take this seriously," he said.

Harry nodded but doubt niggled. If he could see what Voldemort was thinking wasn't it possible to prevent him hurting someone else?

"You know, I used to think you could read minds. When I first came here. But then I thought that was impossible but you can!" he said suddenly.

His guardian chuckled.

"I can. But I don't need to in order to know when the teenage dunderheads before me are up to no good, Harry. I've been teaching long enough to have learned that skill. No magic involved!"

Over the next few evenings, Harry needed to think of an excuse as to why he was spending so much time in the dungeons. He would bolt down his supper and then hare off to the lessons with Snape, telling his Quiddich team mates that the Potions Master had him in detention.

Occlumency was turning out to be something of a trial that Harry was disliking more and more by the day. Severus was patient but insistent.

Bad tempered and reluctant, Harry arrived, finding his guardian waiting.

"Right on time. And so, we begin," Severus said, rising from behind his desk.

"Prepare Harry. Build your defence. Legilimens!"

Harry felt the by now familiar invasion, the flash of memories like a movie playing behind his eyes.

He was tossing a filibuster firework into Goyle's cauldron, Vernon Dudley was advancing towards him, fist raised, his face purple in anger, he and Ron were sneaking along a darkened corridor hidden beneath his invisibility cloak, Hermione cast a body bind and Neville was falling to the ground, stiff as an ironing board.

Snape pulled back. Harry felt as though he had been running a long distance.

"What if you see stuff that can get me in trouble? That firework thing, it was years ago. And what if you see stuff about … others .. That's not fair!" Harry protested.

"So stop me. Drive me out, Harry. You don't want me to know? Then protect yourself," Severus replied silkily.

"I'm trying!" Harry insisted.

"Not hard enough! If I can do this with such ease, you won't last two seconds with the Dark Lord. He accesses your mind, he controls you!" Severus shot back.

" **Discipline your mind! Control your emotions!** **"** the dark wizard leaned towards him, his expression fierce.

Harry's temper sizzled. He lifted his wand.

"Legilimens!"

He was in Hagrid's hut, a tiny dragon uncurled itself from a black egg, Malfoy was calling Hermione a mud blood….

Harry's anger spiked and suddenly, there was a rush inside his mind and the movie scenes switched.

It was as if Harry was watching the scene from above. Snape was looming over Neville Longbottom who looked just fit to faint, he was watching Professor Quirrell, a pensive look on his face, the younger man paling beneath his scrutiny.

Suddenly, Harry was looking at the dungeon classroom again. Severus looked at him, nodded approvingly.

"That was good, Harry. You were strong. Strong enough to push into my mind. You're making real progress now. And I think that does it for tonight," the Professor put his wand away.

"I don't want to do this anymore!" Harry said resentfully.

"I am aware of that. But you do not have a choice and for what it is worth, neither do I. Would it help if I tell you that I am not doing this to spy on you? I am not interested in snooping on you or your friends and using what I find against any of you. I give you my word," Severus put his arm around the boy's shoulders.

In truth, he felt deeply uncomfortable about this himself. It did not seem right invading the boy's mind like this, rampaging through his thoughts. Dumbledore had been clear and Severus knew he was right. Knowing didn't make it any more palatable.

"Keep up this level of progress and you can have the weekend off. I would like to think you will spend it helping me get my potions supplies sorted but I have a suspicion you might like to spend some time with your friends," he smiled at his young ward.

Harry shrugged, still grouchy but glad that at least at the prospect of some Occlumency free time coming.

When Harry returned the next evening, Severus was waiting.

"Let's get straight to it," he said.

They faced each other, Harry tried to brace himself, heard the spell and felt the stirring of memories he did not summon.

He let the strength rise within him, the movie dimmed, the light grew stronger and he was once again facing Snape.

"Well done, Harry. You are so close. Once more and this time, try to repel me before I touch your mind," Severus said.

There was a knock on the door. Snape rose a quieting hand at Harry.

"Wand away, please. Look busy with those cauldrons," he said.

He took his time going to yank the dungeon door open. Argus Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker was outside.

"I'm sorry Professor. But I found this one coming from the kitchens, stealing he was, I am sure of it," Filch had a second year Slytherin by the ear. The Professor looked back at Harry.

"I'll be right back Potter. Keep as you were," he said, closing the door behind him as he exited with the caretaker.

"Thank you, Mr. Filch, I will take it from here," Harry heard the clipped tone, polite but a dismissal just the same.

Alone in the dungeons, he looked around, eying the jars of ingredients that filled the shelves on every wall, the gleaming cauldrons that were neatly stacked away.

His eyes fell on an object he recognised but did not expect to see here. He knew it usually resided in Dumbledore's office.

Harry approached the pensieve curiously. The basin like artefact was shimmering and Harry knew that the glinting, ephemeral contents were memories.

He realised that they must belong to his guardian. He had stored them here because Harry was getting better at Occlumency.

Harry railed at the unfairness of it. His memories were an open book but his guardian could hide his at will?

Harry peered downwards, wondering what it was that Severus thought so important to hide from him.

If Harry's innermost thoughts were fair game, why should the Professor get to cheat?

Later, Harry would regard his next action as foolhardy in the extreme. In that moment, it seemed like a great idea. He leaned over, his face touched the wispy surface.

Immediately, he felt himself propelled forward. He whisked through the air and landed on the grass near the lake at Hogwarts. Around him, students milled, happy and at ease. The sun beamed down. A leafy tree rustled in a gentle breeze that carried the sound of laughter to Harry.

A group of boys were gathered near the bank of the lake. Harry knew them, he had met two of them in recent years and he recognised he third from photos he had seen.

Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and his father, all of them carefree, young and very much alive.

Harry blinked and watched, drinking in the sight of them, revelling in their laughter.

When a fourth boy passed by, Harry hardly gave him a second glance until the boy his father had been pointed at him.

"Snivellus! Why so glum? Have you pulled the wings off the very last bee of the summer?"

Remus and Sirius laughed. Harry watched the dark haired youth as he shot a look of pure dislike at his father, The boy looked badly dressed, his robes were threadbare and he was thin, too thin.

Severus! Harry would have known him anywhere.

The boyhood Snape pressed on, clearly trying to ignore the trio by the shore.

"What's the rush, Snivellus? Why don't you hang out with us a while?" Harry's father called, his wand drawn.

Suddenly, Snape was suspended, hanging from the air, his books falling to the ground, his robes swinging around his head.

James, Remus and Sirius howled with laughter.

"Who wants to see me take old Snivellus' pants off?" James' eyes were alight with cruel humour. The laughter of the others was pitiless chorus.

Harry felt ill watching. The pleasure he had known watching his father and Sirius as boys was fast evaporating.

Just as Harry was wishing he could block out the images he was looking at they were fading.

He realised that someone had a firm grip on his jumper and he was being pulled back, upwards and into the here and now.

The Severus Snape of the present bore a furious expression on his face. His eyes blazed and his lips were a thin line.

He maintained his hold on Harry and shook him, leaning down to look into his face. His nose almost touched Harry's.

"What do you think you are doing?" he snarled and Harry quailed before his anger.

The images that he had just seen had left him reeling, now his guardian was looking at him like he was about to strangle him.

Harry struggled, trying to get himself free.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to see. I'm sorry!" he gasped.

"I do not want to hear it!" Snape roared. Harry flinched.

"What gives you the right to sneak around, snooping like this?" Snape shook him again.

Harry closed his eyes, trying to hide his fear, his shame and the tears that threatened.

"Do not cry! Do not dare hide behind tears! I asked you a question, Harry Potter! What were you looking at?" Snape's voice was a lash that flailed Harry, cold and without mercy.

For his part, Severus felt physically ill. His mind raced through the memories he had stored in the pensieve, none of which he had wanted the boy to see. He had stood by as poor Charity Burbage was murdered by Voldemort before his eyes. He had attended too many Death Eaters meetings to count and worst of all, he had been at Godric's Hollow the night Harry's parents died.

Snape could not have borne for Harry to see as he had, how their bodies lay lifeless and broken in the devastated remains of their home, their small son crying helplessly in his crib.

Firmly pinned in Snape's unrelenting grip, Harry began to understand.

No wonder the Professor hated him. He was the son of his tormentor.

"I am sorry," he cried again.

"Once more. I will ask you once more. What. Did. You. See?" Severus ground out each word between clenched teeth.

Mortification burned in Harry's blood.

"I saw what they did to you. I saw them laughing. Alright? I saw them! They humiliated you!" Harry yelled, sobs choking him.

Severus felt his knees weaken with relief. His grip loosened and the boy sprang away from him.

"How dare you invade my privacy like that?" he said hoarsely.

Harry understood why the Professor was so angry. He would be too if he had been subjected to taunts like that.

"I only wanted to know what was so important you had to hide it. You have seen my secrets, just about all the private stuff. It didn't seem fair that you got to keep yours safe," Harry cried, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"I was trying to teach you to defend yourself, not plundering your private moments for my own amusement! You have crossed a serious line, here, young man. There are boundaries that you do not seem to have any care for!" Severus yelled.

He grabbed Harry's arm and shoved him toward the door. "Out. We are done here," he snapped.

"So I can go back to the Common Room?" Harry's eyebrows rose. "No you may not. You will accompany me," his guardian said shortly.

He propelled Harry up the stairs from the dungeon classrooms with such speed, Harry's feet hardly touched the stone.

He knew why the Professor was taking him to his quarters, he also knew he deserved it.

A piece of Harry's world was crumbling, falling away from him even as he climbed. He had thought his father was great man. What he saw in the pensieve was incontrovertible proof otherwise. He was a thug.

Harry was ashamed, he could almost taste it, sour and metallic, making his stomach roil.

"You are going to give me spanking," it wasn't a question.

"Yes," it wasn't an answer but a confirmation.

Snape's quarters were darkened, the candlelight low and soft. He shut the door behind him and turned to face the boy. Harry looked sickened, which reflected pretty well how Snape felt. He still reeled from the near miss with the pensieve. What if Harry had happened upon that memory, that dreadful, nightmare of a sight?

He closed his eyes as though trying to shield himself from the shadow of it. He would never have forgiven himself.

"Go to your room. I don't trust myself to deal with this just now," he ordered. Severus knew he needed to get himself under control. He was shaken and he did not want to make an already bad situation worse.

He can't bear to look at me, Harry thought, turning to obey. He waited in the silence of his bedroom, the tension swelling so he could almost hear it hum.

It was almost a relief when his bedroom door opened and the Professor swept in, his face set in stern lines, his eyes hard.

Harry rose to his feet and suddenly he didn't know what to do with his hands. He clasped them in front of him, unclasped them and shoved them in his pockets.

"You can do it properly. I won't hold it against you, I can take it," he said before his courage failed.

Snape's brows drew together in a fierce scowl.

"What are you babbling about?"

"You can use your belt. Or accio a cane. It's nothing I don't deserve," Harry's head bowed, he didn't want Severus to see what was in his eyes.

"I do not need your permission to discipline you as I see fit, young man. Neither do I need to use a weapon to make my point," he spat out the words, impatient.

He looked shrewdly at the despondent figure in front of him.

"But I will not carry this out until you understand the reason for it," he said more gently.

Harry's head shot up.

"I do understand! You hate him and I don't blame you!" Harry cried.

"I am not punishing you to get my own back on your father. I have a particular talent for bearing grudges, Harry but even I have to draw the line somewhere. This has nothing to do with settling a score for something that happened nearly thirty years ago," Severus sighed.

"Sit down and stop looking at me like I am going to curse you into the middle of next week," Snape rolled his eyes.

"I am going to spank you because you did something completely unacceptable, Mr. Potter. You showed no respect for my privacy, there are good reasons why I chose to use the pensieve. You are bright enough to know that if I elected to store memories there, they were not for public consumption!" Severus lectured.

"You deliberately invaded my personal space and I will not tolerate such thoughtlessness!" he went on.

"Harry, we are all of us entitled to the dignity of privacy. I know that Occlumency with me is not easy for you and I have tried to respect your right to keep the secrets of you heart and mind for your own. Is it too much to ask that you afford me the same?" Snape's voice was almost gentle.

"I'm sorry," Harry said again. And he was. He was sorry for everything he had seen in the pensieve, sorry the actions of a man he could not remember and sorry that he had shown himself to be no better after everything the Professor had done for him.

Severus thought carefully of what he was going to say. He remembered the upset that had followed when he once told the boy he had lost his trust. He certainly did not want to inflict that kind of hurt again.

"I am disappointed, I expect much more from you. We have something to do, now, Mr. Potter. To me, please," Severus seated himself on the edge of Harry's bed. The boy rose and obeyed. When he reached his guardian, the man reached for him and bent him over his knee.

Harry automatically grabbed a fistful of his robes and squeezed his eyes shut. Severus felt him tense, knew he was bracing for the smack.

"Why are you getting this spanking, Harry?" he asked.

"I should not have pried into your private stuff," Harry responded and he knew that he shouldn't have had. The way Severus had explained it made Harry realise that he had not shown much respect for the Professor.

Severus felt the boy crying before his hand landed for the first time.

He struggled with the idea but he wanted him to feel it, knew it was best to let the boy experience the bite of remorse.

Harry cried all the way through. The Professor was thorough and the heat built but it still didn't burn away the guilt Harry felt.

Even when Severus laid a hand on his back, rubbing tender circles to indicate the punishment had ended, Harry still felt miserable.

Severus lifted him to his feet and drew him against him. Harry pressed his face into his shirt, sobbing raggedly.

"It's over, Harry. Look now, we are done. I am here and it will be okay," he said.

"Are you still angry with me?" Harry cried.

"No. I am not angry, child. You will get into bed now. Have a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I will still be here, the sun will still come up and we will be friends again," Severus rocked him gently.

When the crying eased, Severus stepped away, lifted a hand to cup the boy's cheek.

"Remember, sleep. Things will look better in the morning, Harry. And I think we can both take some comfort in knowing we have earned a little breather from our Occlumency classes," his obsidian eyes crinkled.

Severus awoke early, as was his habit, even on weekends and spent a few hours after breakfast in his ingredients store. This, he usually found therapeutic, he enjoyed the solitude and the structure of sorting and listing supplies. This morning, he still felt frissons of the tensions of yesterday and he thought of the boy.

He knew that Hagrid had invited Harry along with Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley to lunch at his hut. Severus guessed this would entail some tooth rotting sweet treats Hagrid had baked and the introduction to a creature hideous beyond words that Hagrid regarded as the cutest thing in the world.

If Severus had been asked to bet, he would have placed his money on the scaly skinned, sharp toothed bark trotters that Hagrid had recently taken charge of. Snuggles, that was the name of the one that had bitten three of the Professors this week alone.

Of course the boy would not want Severus to know he was helping Hagrid hide the pesky creatures. So he would have to feign ignorance and pretend to know nothing of it.

In truth, he was glad that the boy could go do something fun. It would do him good.

Fully expecting Harry to be out with his friends, Severus returned to his quarters and picked up some student papers to correct. The knock that sounded on his door was so timid that he almost missed it.

He rose from his desk, opening the door, hoping it wasn't Argus come to tell him he'd found a student breathing, or blinking, or any of the inexhaustible list of things that irritated him.

He was taken aback to find Hermione Granger looking very much like it was taking the very last ounce of her courage to stand at his doorway. He felt a flash of guilt for the sharp way he had treated her after the swelling potion mishap.

"Miss Granger, to what do I owe the honour?" he rose a bemused eyebrow. He guessed that if he only so much as whispered 'boo' at her she would bolt so fast, she'd make apparation look like a slow way to travel.

She drew a deep breath.

"I was wondering…." she stopped. Remembered the words he knew she had been rehearsing with every step down here.

"Good afternoon Professor Snape. Sir, I was wondering if Harry is allowed to come to Hagrid's with us… That is with Ron and me.. Ron and I,"

She fell silent, breathless.

He frowned, puzzled.

"Is Harry not already with you?" he asked.

She shook her head, bushy curls swinging.

"No Sir. He came to the Great Hall just after breakfast and said that he wouldn't make it, he was staying here instead. He didn't exactly say why and I just thought if you might have had a change of heart?" she looked dubious at the very idea.

"Miss Granger, if you are thinking that I have chopped him up and put the pieces in a potion bottle, I can promise you I have not. If Harry has decided not to accompany you today, it was entirely his own choice. I have no doubt he will catch up with you when he is good and ready ," Severus said.

"Oh. Yes, very well. Thank you Sir," she turned, glad to be able to make her exit.

"Miss Granger? The Larkswing worked to your satisfaction?" He was referring to the powdered infusion he brought to the hospital wing for her after the cauldron incident.

She turned back and smiled at him. "Yes. Even better than the braces my father would have fitted!"

He nodded and closed the door as she hurried back up the corridor. His brows knitted together thoughtfully. With his hands in his pockets, he walked up the hall and knocked once on the closed door of Harry's bedroom, pushing the door open to peer inside.

The boy was lying on his back, his hands behind his head, fingers interlinked. He glanced over as Severus entered.

"Harry. I thought you were off out with Granger and Weasley today?" there was curiosity in the Professor's tone and a little concern.

"Are you feeling ok? No more dreams?" he looked down at the boy, sensing the air of dejection around him.

Harry shook his head.

"No. I am fine, Severus," Harry replied.

"You could have gone, if you had wanted to. I did not say you were grounded," his guardian said quietly.

"I don't think I'd be very good company, that's all," Harry said.

Severus nodded as though he understood.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Harry bit his lip.

"If you are upset because of yesterday, then I want to remind you that you are forgiven. We can put it behind us," Snape said.

"How can you? Put it behind you? They were nothing but lousy, arrogant cowards. Three to one? Is that how my father liked to do his fighting?" the words burst out of Harry as he looked up at the Professor, hurt and confusion flitting across his face.

"I hate bullies, Severus. And I am the son of one."

So this was not about the spanking. Severus had been relieved that the only memory Harry had stumbled on was the spat from his seventh year here as a student. He had been happy to let the boy think he was upset he had viewed it, wanting to discourage him from wondering what else Snape didn't want him to see.

But he did not care to see Harry so disillusioned about his father. That was not right.

He sighed and bent to sit on the side of the boy's bed. He rested his elbows on his knees.

"You see, this is what comes of looking at isolated moments out of context, Harry. What you saw was the immature antics of a boy showing off for a girl he liked. Your father was not a bad man. We were not friends, that is no secret. But he was not a coward, and he was not a bully. Looking at one unflattering moment in a life does not define who that person is," Snape said, looking down into the green eyes.

"Harry, believe me when I tell you I know what I am talking about. We are not all black, not all white, there is more to each of us than that. Do not be too quick to judge your father by what you saw in the pensieve," Severus said.

"How can you be ok with what he did? He was cruel," Harry blinked, listening carefully to what his guardian was saying.

"I am an adult now, Harry and the things that caused me angst when I was a boy seem less of a big deal now," Severus shrugged.

"You're standing up for him?" Harry couldn't believe it.

The Professor chuckled dryly.

"I wouldn't go that far. But there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. And there is one thing that I will be forever in James Potter's debt for," Severus said philosophically.

He paused a beat. Kept his eyes trained on the boy.

"You."

Harry sat up and dropped his gaze.

He felt a curious, unfamiliar but pleasant surge within him and realised that this was what security felt like.

"Yea. That got you back but good!" he mumbled, embarrassed but smiling crookedly.

His guardian laughed.

"How do you always know the answers? The thing to say to make things ok again?" the boy's face was open and honest, the gifts of the young, Severus thought.

"The bat of the dungeons knows some stuff afterall, then!" the Potions Master looked at him under his eyebrows.

"Yea," Harry's expression cleared.

The older wizard nodded and rose to his feet.

"Severus?" Harry's voice was uncertain.

"Would it be ok? Maybe I could give you a hug?"

Severus's arms opened as if by instinct. Harry threw himself into them, letting the troubles that had weighed on him drift away like steam on a sunny day.

The Professor tutted.

"Child, you do not need to ask."


End file.
